Boris wants Tube logo redesigned to help direct river passengers

Boarding cards: passengers will be able to use Oyster pay-as-you-go on some Thames Clippers from November

Boris Johnson is considering adapting the Tube logo to help river passengers distinguish between tourist boats and faster commuter services.

The Mayor has allocated £30,000 to improve the branding of river services by next year after being told of the confusion, with more than 50 operators and 200 boats calling at 33 piers. The aim is to develop "clear, simple identities" to explain which boat to board.

This month, after Transport for London published Tube maps without the Thames, a "furious" Mr Johnson ordered the river to be reinstated when they are next updated. He wants to increase annual passenger numbers from about five million to 7.5 million by 2012.

Angie Bray, Tory parliamentary candidate for Ealing Central and Acton, who published a report calling for investment in "London's lost highway" when she was a member of the London Assembly, said: "If you give people more information abut the river, they will make more use of it."

Oyster pay-as-you-go services will be accepted on some commuter services, such as the Thames Clipper to the O2, from November, while TfL is extending Tower Millennium Pier to boost capacity.